Harvard Shuts Down No. 7 Saints, 3-0

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Tara Freeman
Senior Maxie Weisz made 25 saves against Harvard on Saturday.

Nov. 7: The No. 7 St. Lawrence University women's hockey team was shut out by Harvard University at the Bright Hockey Center in Cambridge, MA for the second consecutive game on Saturday, as the Crimson knocked off the Saints 3-0. 

The victory moves Harvard to 2-2-0 (2-2-0) on the season, while St. Lawrence falls to 4-4-3 (2-3-0) after the loss.  The Saints, who were forced to play this weekend without junior Kirsten Roach and first-year student Jamie Goldsmith, were outshot 28-14 on Saturday, though senior goalie Maxie Weisz did her best to keep her team in the game with a 25-save performance.  Her counterpart, Christina Kessler of Harvard, made 14 saves to earn the shutout victory.

The two ECAC Hockey rivals played a scoreless first period that saw the Crimson own an 8-6 advantage in shots on goal.  The home team had a pair of power play chances in the opening 20:00 minutes, but failed to convert, while the Saints were 0-for-1 with the extra skater in the first.

Harvard would net its first goal of the game at the 8:00 minute mark of the second period.  Ashley Wheeler scored her first goal of the season, with assists going to Kate Buesser and Cori Bassett in what would prove to be the game-winning tally.

The Saints had two power play chances in both the second and third periods, but failed to generate many chances in front of Kessler.  The visitors finished 0-for-5 in the game on the power play.

Weisz did well to keep her team within striking distance, as she made nine saves to Kessler's four in the second stanza.  However, Buesser would take a pass from Alisa Baumgartner and score on the Severna Park, MD native at 6:44 of the third period to build the Crimson's lead to 2-0.  Weisz would not allow another goal, though Buesser added an empty net tally when St. Lawrence head coach Chris Wells pulled the goalie for an extra forward.  Buesser's second goal of the game came at 19:30, was assisted by Kaitlin Spurling and put the game away for the home team, 3-0.

Kessler finished with four more saves in the third period to notch her first shutout of 2009-10.  Senior assistant captain Britni Smith and junior Karell Emard finished with three shots on goal apiece in the losing effort.

St. Lawrence will look to snap a two-game losing skid next Friday, November 13th when the Saints face Colgate University in Hamilton, NY at 7:00pm.